Fairystone State Park is located just north of Martinsville Virginia, and just a little east of the Blue Ridge Mountians. This is one of the states premier parks, boasting a campground with several loops, there are 24 camping cabins with one to five bedrooms available for rent. It is located on a small lake, which is connected to the much larger Philpotts lake.

There are 51 sites with electric and water hook-up's (no sewer), and 7 sites without hook-up's for tenting. Most sites can accomodate RV's up to 30' in length. Facilities include flush toilets, and hot showers.

Activities including swimming, boating (boat launching facilities are available), fishing, hiking trails throughout the park. There are 9 trails with approx 14 miles in the system.

Fairystone State Park derives it's name from the fabled Fairystones that are found not far from the parks entrance. Visitors are encouraged to visit the area where the stones can be found, and search the grounds surface for them. Digging for them, or possession of digging tools in the area are strictly forbidden.

The Legend of the Fairy Stone

Many hundreds of years before Chief Powhatan’s reign, fairies were dancing around a spring of
water, playing with naiads and wood nymphs, when an elfin messenger arrived from a city far away.
He brought news of the death of Christ. When these creatures of the forest heard the story of the
crucifixion, they wept. As their tears fell upon the earth, they crystallized to form beautiful crosses.
When the fairies disappeared from the enchanted place, ground about the spring and the adjacent
valley was strewn with these mementos of the event.

For many years people held these little crosses in superstitious awe, firm in the belief that they
protected the wearer against witchcraft, sickness, accidents and disaster. Fairy stones are brown
staurolite, a combination of silica, iron and aluminum. Together, these minerals crystallize in twin form,
accounting for the crosslike structure. Found only in rocks that have been subjected to great heat and
pressure, the stones are most commonly shaped like St. Andrew’s and Roman crosses. The most
sought after are those in the shape of the Maltese cross.

Staurolite stones are also found in the mountains of North Carolina and in Switzerland, but nowhere
else in the world are they found in such abundance and shaped so nearly like crosses as in the vicinity
of Fairy Stone State Park.